Smart Men

I love smart men. I mean ladies, we all know the sexiest part of a man is his brain. Don’t get me wrong, I like eye candy too, but I’ll take a brain over candy any day, all day into the next day.

I have good friend who has a drop dead gorgeous genius sister who likes the eye candy. My friend noticed that most of her sister’s flavors of the week didn’t talk much. She asked her sister about this, the sister simply responded, “I’m not dating them to talk.” Hah! I guess I can see that point of view, but man meat spoils and once it does, what good is it?

I was watching a documentary on Mel Brooks the other night, and while most of his work I can take or leave, there are several pieces, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Men In Tights to name a few that are comedic genius. Blazing Saddles insulted everyone and insulted them well. I loved it then, I love it now.

Mel is my kind of man. He’s hysterical, passionate about his family and his work, and genius. I’d marry him in a New York minute. That is of course if I wasn’t married to my own hysterical, passionate, genius. ^_~

Mel said two things in one of the interviews that resonated with me to the point of not only looking and thinking about my work differently but actually changing the way I approach my stories and how I write them. He said, he never performed for an audience, he performed for himself and counted himself lucky that the audience laughed with him.

Kind of like to thine own self be true.

As a writer I have been trained to write with an editor on my shoulder and readers waiting to scrutinize. It slows down not only my creativity but my actual writing. It makes me question myself when I go outside of the New York box, and in that, I find that what I instinctively want to write is watered down. I am not amused. Nor am I being true to my true writer self.

The other thing my husband in my next life said that hit me like ice water in the face was, “If you walk up to the bell, you had better damn sight ring it.” Hell, yes! Why do all of that work to get there and then wuss out? Because you’re afraid? Of what? Exactly.

So, my dear MSW readers, I am forewarning you all, I no longer write for an editors’ or for readers’ enjoyment, but for mine. Not only that, but I have not only walked up to the bell, but I’m ringing it so hard and so fast, my ears are ringing along with it.

With a little bit of help from Mel, the dawn of self-publishing has released the Karin Kraken. I have a fabulous production team in place, a smoking hot bell-ringing series about to release, and all the time in the world to do it my way.

So my question is, for those of you who read self-published books do you find them to be more provocative then traditionally New York published books? And for those who write both traditional published and self-published books, do you find you are more creative with the stories you have complete creative control over?

23 comments on “Smart Men”

As a reader of both types, everything varies. I dont notice too much difference between self published and regular print books written by my author friends. The quality is there, eir voice still ring true, and I still get that same sense of emotion and see a great depth in their characters as I read. That being said, there are some that are more salacious, for lack of a better word, not in a cheesy pornagraphic way, but you sometimes see more of a connection between the sex and the relationship between characters. In some books, I can see instances where the author let go and let write…they write for themselves, which made the books richer and characters more fully formed on the page. That doesn’t bother me at all, especially if I’m reading a book by an author whose style and voice I am very intimate with.

However, I do sense sone differences when reading some new to me authors who self-publish. Some of them lack polish, and the stories seem scattered; they sometimes have characters that are not fully formed, the plots are peacemeal, the whole storyline is based on sex, and there is no real connection between h and H. When tis happens it is very difficult for me to get an emotional connection to the characters, which doesn’t make for a good read. It will take a while for me to go back to books written by those authors.

I hope that answers your question. It is still quite early for my brain to be online…lol!

Plus, History of the World, Part 1… ROFL. And yes yes yes to Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein and Men in Tights. Brooks kills me. Plus a double yes yes yes to men with brains. I got me one, too. =o)

I haven’t read that many self-published books, and all the ones I have read have been by people I know. I don’t know if they’re more provocative than they would’ve been if they’d been traditionally published. I just know those books wouldn’t have been published at all if the authors hadn’t gone the SP route. And that would be sad because things like Silver James’ Moonstruck series would be lost to the world.

I came from running publication operations for high-tech companies. I wrote published and distributed thousands of manuals. I designed the covers. The company logo (a start up – can you tell???) The only reviewers were the SMEs who checked that I had all the facts. I was both Director of Documentation and DIrector of marketing. I have done the direct mail, the ads, the trade shows. I come fully vetted. We are talking decades at this. I also published over 40 technical papers – You have a loose editor. Tight formatting. And I created and distributed 20-30 seminars – very loosely reviewed. If you discount a thousand (minimum) students. Last, three technical textbooks where the publishing company contacted me and asked for a book. They used English majors to try to edit highly technical textbooks – lots of arguing. Two of those books I turned into self-published eBooks in 1996-7. Made more on page hits than I ever made from the publisher. Lesson learned.

I love both those quotes. I have a new story idea for a contempory romance, and it doesn’t fit the normal books that I see. But it’s growing on me, and I want to write it. Now I know I should write that book. Thanks!

Glad to see you take the plunge, Karin! I was first published with a small press. Then I self-published and my sales/royalties were leaps and bounds higher. I wouldn’t trade the publisher experience, though. I learned more about my craft and the editing process. I became (hopefully!) a better storyteller.

But my “voice” doesn’t really fit New York. I’m a cross-genre writer who utilizes a “cinematic” POV when I write. I’ll be releasing the first book in a new series this fall–one that made the rounds, one that editors enjoyed–voice AND story though maybe if I revised this or that until my voice disappeared. And then they ultimately rejected it because they a) didn’t know how to market it; b) didn’t have room for it in their schedule; c) no “unknown” authors; d) all of the above. I dove in with the Moonstruck series, learned a lot, and am convinced I need to self-publish the Penumbra series. I WANT that control!

That said, I’m also actively pursuing a publishing contract with a project that is ideally (hopefully! LOL) suited for “New York.” We’ll see. If it doesn’t fly, no worries. I have alternatives now!

My husband and son watched the Young Frankenstein video so many times it wore out. Now we have it on DVD. Mel is a genius.
I’m self-publishing because I’m doing cross-genre and agents “don’t know how to market” my stuff. Gotten nice reviews o my first and coming out with #2 next month. Hope to start building.

And by the way, you picked one of the most superduper creative minds to muse from. Mel Brooks is a quadruple threat: TV writer, screen writer, actor, and Playwright. One of my favorite scenes of all time is in HIGH ANXIETY, when the car is going down the Big-Sur worthy road, and the scary music is playing–

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Bio:

Allison Brennan

Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nearly three dozen romantic thrillers and mysteries, including the Lucy Kincaid series and the Max Revere series. She lives in Northern California with her husband, five children, and assorted pets.